Saturday, April 19, 2014

04/14/2014 Letter

Sooooo....I got my birthday box and of course
opened it before I read the letter that said not to open it until my
birthday.......but that’s okay :) We are actually going to celebrate my
birthday today with some of my favorite memebers!!! :) I Am Really Excited!!
And it helps that my companion is a super hero fanatic and so the spider man
stuff is perfect! The members names are Eber Jr. and Bianca and they are
actually going to be moving to the States!

(Elder Pachner is the second from the right in the pictures above)

Ummmm yeah this week was pretty good! I am
learning so much! Unfortunately nobody came to sacrament meeting however that
is okay! We are doing our job and that is what the Lord asks of us! We actually
are going to have a marriage here! We are going to get our investigators
married and then they will be able to get baptized! They are a family of 6 but
only four of them have the age to be baptized! I probably won’t be here to see
them get baptized but I am still super happy for them and the progress they are
making! It really was super special when we taught them the plan of salvation
this past week. You can just see how much they love their kids! It was
just nice to see because that is not something you usually see here in Brazil.
I am so very happy that we are all sealed together! I know that through the
power of the priesthood we were sealed to be a family for time and all ETERNITY.
There are no other people that I would rather be sealed with than my family (…and
of course my future wife ;) ) but other than that you guys are great :)

I have had some deeper
thoughts about prayer this week...it has actually helped me a lot. Specifically
it is about my relationship with Heavenly Father. I was thinking about my
prayers....and on the whole they just seemed like just a huge list....thanks
for this, this, and this, and I need this, this, and that. It didn’t seem very
personal and I realized that God is my Father and I know almost nothing about Him.
I decided to start talking, as if I were talking to Dad, because truly he is my
Father. I told him about my day, my worries, how I was feeling. I started to
talk about questions that I have always had and asked for explanations. It was
actually one night when I was super tired and a little discouraged and I just
knelt down and truly talked to Him. I awoke the next day with feelings of peace
and I knew that Father had heard me, that He truly was listening and that I was
truly beginning to develop a real relationship with him! It has made me feel so
much better and has helped me to find deeper meaning in my prayers.

Everyone keeps telling me
about how cold the winters are here so I don’t know how bad it will be yet. It
is just the fact that I have had a year of summer and have kind of adapted to
the heat now.

But this week I have been
doing great! My health is good! I cannot wait to talk to you guys on Skype in
like 30ish days!!!! Can you believe that it has already been about 6
months??????????? It is crazy!!!!!!!!!! It feels like time is flying past for
me!!

I love you all so very
much! I am having a great time here and I am excited for the work that we have
to do here! :) I miss you guys a ton but I know that the work that I am doing
here is just the beginning! :)

I have learned so much
here and received so many answers for questions that I have needed answered
before! I truly feel the hand of the Lord in my life everyday!